5-18-2023

Good Morning All,

      1 John 4:9; “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” 

    During the mid- 1960’s the Beatles recorded a song entitled “All You need is Love.”  It was written very simply.  It was written that way by design.  The BBC commissioned the Beatles to write a song which would be easily understood by any nationality or in any language.  It was then sung on the first international satellite television show.  It was a live broadcast around the world and the Beatles introduced their song at the end of the broadcast.

    It was an ambitious undertaking requiring thousands of technicians and new satellite technology.  It was complicated by the fact that shortly before the broadcast the Soviet bloc nations pulled out.  It was designed to try and bring the nations of the world, all the people, to exist in one happy existence.  The fact that the Six Day War broke out right before kind of put a damper on the event.

    The thing is the producers were right.  All you do need is love, sadly; the Beatles were not the place to look.  If we were to look at the history of mankind, the lack of love is the problem.  When sin entered the world, man’s perfectly harmonious relationship with God and with his fellow man was broken.  We went from selfless love to selfish love.  We went from caring about our neighbor to trying to figure out how to stick it to our neighbor.

    Immediately after sin, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, Cain killed Abel and mankind left God.  Sin turned man inward.  We look only to our selfish needs, and we refuse to look out for others.  It becomes all about me and when it is all about me; there is no love.  Think about it.  Think of 1 Corinthians 13 and the description of love.  Love is patient, kind; love keeps no record of faults, etc.  Do you know any selfish person who has those traits? 

    From the onset of sin, man has been completely selfish and lost the capacity to love.  One of the more important aspects of the “image of God” was destroyed by sin.  We were completely lost in our own selfish desires and wants.  This is why Jesus came into the world.  For God so loved the world; that is why Jesus came.

     With His coming, Jesus showed the world what it means to love.  Look at the verses where we are told this.  “Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for another.”  “Love one another as I have loved you.”  We see Jesus returning man back to his original purpose; to love one another.  It is as if Jesus gave us a badge to wear for all to see.  That badge is the badge of love for each other.  The question we need to ask ourselves is do we wear the badge, or do we hide it?  Do we share God’s love, his compassion, for the people we come in contact with, or do we hide it and stay with our sinful selfishness?  God gives us the power to love, through faith; we can impact the world in a way that John Lennon couldn’t have imagined.

Dear Father, your love is all that we need and all that we have, Give us the courage to love, give us the capacity to love, and bring us together as your dear children to show your love to all.  Bless those who are especially in need of experiencing your love.  Use us as your hands to show your love to the world.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen            

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret